{belly} Karen :: Northern Virginia maternity photographer

I just had a feeling when I saw Karen’s email signature – Spiritual Teacher, Storyteller, Life Enthusiast, Hands-On Bodyworker, Singer, Philosopher, Xenophile – that she would be adventurous enough to brave an early morning wake up call for some gorgeous light. (I’ve been jonesing to do a sunrise shoot for ages now, and let me tell you – it was so.worth getting up at 4 am.)

Little did I know that, as a former model, Karen was more than used to sunrise shoots. So it was that yesterday morning I drove in the dark to a field with a pair of sweethearts whose story is the stuff movies are made of. They met at a bar where Karen was a hostess and Aaron played in a band; A year later and “just friends” she invited him to a fourth of July party at her house, thinking she might set him up with a girlfriend of hers. Turns out, he had eyes only for her. “No one else was as beautiful as she was,” he said. They started going together, and he fell hard. And fast. So hard and fast that the intensity of his feelings scared Aaron, and he broke up with her.

It didn’t last long. He was miserable without her; she felt like life was good but would be better if he were still in it. It’s one of those things where you just know it was meant to be…within days of their reunion she found out she was pregnant. This baby is just one more evidence of their love for each other. At 33 weeks pregnant, Karen glows – and Aaron clearly adores her. Rarely have I sensed this kind of passion and love between two people I’ve photographed. I am beyond excited to capture Karen’s birth story in August. I just have a feeling it’s gonna be some kind of beautiful.